Face-to-face interaction was examined by a team from
Beijing Normal University using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), which looked at a region in the
frontal cortex to compare synchronization under different settings. Four male–male pairs and six female–female
pairs were scanned during four task sessions sitting: (1) face-to-face with
dialog, (2) face-to-face with only one speaker, (3) back-to-back with dialog,
and (4) back-to-back with only one speaker. They were videotaped as well and
the researchers examined interactions for turn-taking behavior including body
language: orofacial movements, facial expressions, and gestures.
They
found neural synchronization at a maximum in the left inferior frontal cortex only
in the face-to-face dialog scenarios. They concluded that: multimodal sensory information integration and
turn-taking behavior between partners may underlie successful
face-to-face communication. They add that the human
brain is designed for face-to-face communication and has important neural
features that other types of communication lack (email and text messaging), and
recommend that people take more time to communicate face-to-face.
Jiang, J., Dai, B., Peng, D., Zhu, C., Liu, L,
Lu, C., (November 2012). Neural
Synchronization during Face-to-Face Communication, The Journal of Neuroscience, 7, 32(45): 16064-16069.
photo: Business Discussion flickr
photo: Business Discussion flickr
